Rolling-mill guide



Jan. 10, 1928.

J. L. ROOF ROLLING MILL GUIDE Filed Oct. 1925 fi l lwl H l l l l l u uw l m I l h 69W M HTTOEM: r5

Patented Jan. 10, 1928;

UNITED STATES JAY L. B001, 01: BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

ROLLING-MILL GUIDE.

, 4pp11cation filed October 5, 1925. Serial No. 80,418.-

This invention relates to improvements in guides for rolling mills of the kind which are adapted to be used at the del very end of the rolls for stripping the material whlch is being rolled from the rolls, or which are used for twisting the material which is being rolled.

Guides of this kind must be made strong enough to resist the severe strains to wh1ch they are subjected in use and are subject to comparatively quick wear at restricted portions only of the guide, namely at the portions with which the material which is being rolled comes into contact, and consequently it has heretofore been necessary to replace the entire guide when portions thereof are worn, which involves a considerable item of expense, and also necessitates shutting down the machinery for a sufficient interval of time to permit removal and replacing of the heavy guide members.

The objects of this invention are to provide a guide for rolling mills in which the portions of the guide which are sub ected to the'greatest wear are made separately from the other portions of the guide, so that when the portions subject to the greatest wear have become damaged by use, they can be replaced by other portions, thus avoiding the necessity of replacing the entire guide; also to provide a construction in which the removable portions are made of comparatively light weight and are so arranged on the guide members that they can be removed and replaced without removing the guide members out of their operative positions; also to provide guides of this type with removable strips which may be made of different material from the guide itself so that less damage results to the material which is being rolled when the same contacts with the bearing strips of the guide; also to improve the construction of rolling mill guides in other, respects hereinafter specified.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is an elevation partly in section showing a guide embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a transverse, sectional elevation 5 thereof on line 3-3, Fig. 1.

Fig, 4 is a transverse section thereof on 11m 4-4, Fig. 1.

Figs. 5 and 6 are respectively a top plan view and a side elevation of a bearing strip removed from the guide.

Fig. 7 is an end view of the bearing strip.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown by way of example one embodiment of my invention applied to twist delivery guides of a steel rolling mill. It will be understood, however, that it is not intended to l1mit my invention to the particular type of guide shown, nor to use in connection with steel mills, since the invention may be used in connection with delivery guides in which no twisting of the material which is being rolled is eifected.

A and B, Fig. 1, represent in broken lines a pair of rolls of a rolling mill with which my improved guides cooperate, the rolls being adapted to turn in the direction indicated by the arrows, so that the guide is shown at the delivery end of the rolls. C and 1) represent respectively the upper and lower guide members, the outer faces of which may be provided with lugs or extensions c and (Z of any suitable or usual kind which are adapted to cooperate with holding means for these guide members, the holding means, however, being not shown and constituting no part of my invention, and the guide members may also be provided with the usual projections or cooperating parts 0 and d for correctly positionin the two guide members relatively to -eac other which parts or projections have also heretofore been used in connection with guide members of this kind. The guide members are provided with the usual tapering end portions 0 and (1 extending into close proximity to the rolls A and B which may serve for stripping the material which is being rolled from the rolls. These guide members are subjected to severe strains by the material which is being rolled, particularly when the guides are used for twisting the material, and for this reason the guide members are generally made of a heavy and bulky construction and of a hard material to withstand the strains, steel being generally employed for this purpose.

The inner faces of the guide members may be shaped in any suitable or desired manner, depending entirely upon the shape of the material which is being rolled, and are adapted to engage with this material for guiding the same. By way of illustration the guide members shown are adapted to cooperate with a bar X of substantially square cross section and are adapted to twist the bar through any desired angle so that the bar passes into a succeeding set of rolls in a different plane from that in which the bar passed through the preceding rolls. The interior of the guide members therefore is formed to permit the material which is being rolled to pass therethrough, and pertions of the interior of the guide members are adapted to engage the material to guide the same or to twist the same as the case may be.

In accordance with my invention the portions ofthe inner faces of the guide members which are subjected to the greatest wear by the material which is being rolled are made removable, and for this purpose, in the particular construction shown each of the guide members is'provided at the portions thereof with which the material which is being rolled contacts with hearing strips F, F which may be removably held on the guide members in any suitable manner. In the construction shown, these bearing'strips are secured in grooves E, E formed in the guide members. These grooves or recesses may be of any suitable or desired shape, being pref; erably undercut and the bearing strips have lateral extensions which fit into the undercut portions'of the grooves, so that the side walls of the grooves or recesses tend to retain the bearing strips in place therein, and preferably the grooves extend from the extreme front or tapering ends 0 d of the guide members into close proximity to the rear ends thereof, so that the front ends of the bearing strips extend into close proximity to the rolls A, B. The bearing strips may, of course, be of any suitable or desired construction, and their shape will depend upon the nature of the work which is being rolled. In the particular construction shown the upper and lower bearing strips F, F are provided at their forward ends with tapering or inclined faces f which converge relatively'to each other in the direction of movementof the material which is being rolled so as to guide the material into the direction in which it is to, pass through the guide. These faces.

f also serve to strip the material from the rolls. The opposed faces of the bearing -strips in rear of the inclined or, tapering faces f of the bearing strips F, F may be messes to the direction of movement of the material through the guide.

The bearing strips F, F may be held in correct relation to the guide members C, D, in any suitable or desired manner. In the particular construction shown the upper guide member C is provided near the rear end thereof with a hole 9 extending from the to of the guide member into the groove E, and a stop pin or bolt G may be inserted into this hole, the lower end of the pin extending into the slot or groove E sufiiciently to engage with the rear end of the bearing strip F to prevent rearward movement of this bearing strip due to frictional contact with the material which is being rolled. In the case of the lower guide member I) a somewhat similar hole g is provided also terminating at one end in the bottom of the groove E of the guide member and at its opposite end in the lower face of this lower :bearing strip F to prevent rearward movement thereof by the material which is being rolled.

Means of any suitable kind may be provided, if desired, for preventing movement of the bearing strips in the direction toward the rolls. In the construction shown for this purpose the bottoms or inner faces of the grooves E, E are provided with portions h which are cut deeper than the other portions of these faces, thus forming shoulders H against which corresponding shoulders H of the bearing strips mayeiigage to limit the extent to which the bearing strips may be moved lengthwise of the slots or grooves in the guide members. The bearing strips are also provided with base portions k" which are adapted to rest on the deeper cut portions 72. of the grooves. Any other means for holding the bearing strips against'movement in either direction in their slots may be provided.

The bearing strips may be readily removed from the guide members, in case the bearing strips become worn or damaged by removing the pins G or G, andsliding the damaged or worn bearing strip rearwardly out of its slot. In the same manner a new bearing strip may readily be positioned in a guide member byinserting the tapered end f thereof at the rear end of the slot and sliding the bearing-strip forwardly in the slot until the shoulders H and H on the g tide memmasses her and bearing strip engage, whereupon the stop pin G or G may be placed into its operative position. This removal and replacing of a bearing strip may be effected without removing the guide members from their holders and in this manner a great amount of time is saved since with guides as heretofore used the wearing out of a guide necessitated the shutting down of a rolling mill until the entire guide member could be released and removed from its holding means and replaced by another guide member, which involved a very considerable delay,

whereas with my improved bearing strip a few minutes are sufficient to permit new bearmg straps to be inserted into a guide.

Since the guide members C and D in order to possess the requisite strength must be made of a hard strong material, such for example as steel, it has been found that in rolling certain materials such as steel, the wearing of the hot steel against the steel guide members produces scores, scratches or other roughening of the surface of the steel which is being rolled, probably due to the fact that the hot steel which is pressed with great force against the guide has a tendency to Weld or adhere to the guide, and these defects on the periphery of the material being rolled has often resulted in heavy losses due to rejection of such material by purchasers. It has been found that by making the bearing strips of material other than steel, the scratching or damaging of the steel which is being rolled can be eliminated, but the making of the entire guide member of a material'which has less tendency to scratch or damage the work has not been found practicable since such other materials do not possess the requisite strength. By means of the construction described, the bearing strips F, F may be made of a material having considerably less strength than steel, since the bearing strips are so supported in the grooves of the guide members that they cannot readily be broken by the Work. The bearing strips, however, may be made of any suitable material and if desired, may be made of the same material as the guide members. In many cases the desired composition of the bearing strips will depend upon the composition of the material being rolled.

My improved rolling mill guide has the advantage that the life of the body portion of the guide members is very greatly increased by providing removable bearing strips, which if worn can be readily replaced by new ones with very little loss of time, and at a small fraction of the cost of a new guide member. The invention has the further advantage that, if desired, the bearing strips may be made of other material than the guide members themselves, without sacrificing strength of these members, thus eliminating the disfiguring or damaging of the surface of the material which is being rolled.

The construction described has the fur ther advantage that the same guide may be used on work of different size or cross section by inserting into the guide members different bearing strips, shaped and adapted to cooperate with work of different size or shape.

I claim as my invention 1. A delivery guide for a rolling mill having longitudinal recesses in the portions thereof subject to the greatest wear, and removable bearing strips secured in said recesses and adapted to be engaged by the material which is being rolled, the ends of said strips extendinginto close proximity to said rollsto strip the material which is being rolled therefrom, and the portions of said strips beyond said ends thereof being formed to impart a twist to the material being rolled as the same passes through said guide.

2. Airolling mill guide including a pair of guide members arranged in operative relation to each other and provided with inner faces between which the material which is being rolled passes, undercut grooves in the inner faces of said guide members extending lengthwise of said guide members, bearing strips arranged in' said grooves and having parts engaging with the undercut portions thereof to hold said bearing strips against moving out of the open faces of said grooves, said bearing strips being slidable lengthwise in said grooves into their operative positions, stop means engaging said bearing strips to hold the same against lengthwise movement out of said grooves, the inner faces of the bearing members being shaped to impart a twist to the material which is being rolled.

3. A receiving guide for a rolling mill comprising a guide frame having upper and lower opposed members, the surface of said members which face one another having grooves extending in the direction of travel through said frame of the rolled articles, a bearing strip removably secured in and extending along each of said grooves, each strip projecting from the surface of the member to which it is secured so as to support and guide the rolled articles largely thereon, the contact surfaces of said strips varying progressively in related inclinations to impart a twist to the rolled articles passing therebetween.

4. A receiving guide for a rolling mill comprising a guide frame having opposed members with undercut grooves in the surfaces thereof which face one another and extending in the direction of travel through the frame of the rolled articles, a bearing strip slidingly mounted in each groove and having a tongue portion in the undercut of its related groove to prevent removal of the cles passing through said frame, and the strip through the open face of the groove, exposed faces of said strips varying progresand stops removably disposed in said grooves sively in related inclinations to impart a del and engaging with said strips to prevent sired twist to the rolled articles guided 5 endwise movements of said strips, said strips therebetween.

projecting through the open face of said grooves to support and guide the rolled arti- JAY L. ROOF. 

